Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

AC Milan is in first place in Serie A at the moment, but unbeaten Juventus can retake control of the Scudetto race with a win today when the squads clash in Milan in the day's top match-up.

Milan is the home team today, but will face a tough task against a Juve side that has yet to lose a match all year. The absence of suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and injured midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng will make it tougher for Milan to stop Juventus, which will come in confident having already beaten Milan in league play as well as in Coppa Italia earlier this month.

In Mexico, first-place Tigres take on Pachuca in the league's top match of the day. Jose Torres will look to put together another classy performance before playing for the USA against Italy on Wednesday. Surprising side Club Tijuana could catapult up the Primera standings with a win against Toluca tonight.

If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Don’t know yet but it sort of dawned on me….there is a very young US player that is potentially a starting CB in the f’n EPL. Ream has his share of doubters (I don’t really have an opinion of his MLS play) but damn, he is 24 and right on the edge of being a Prem starter.

Is this a reflection of current talent level or the idea that Gooch/Bocanegra are too old. Because I can’t imagine how you “can’t see” Bocanegra and Onyewu starting at the World Cup.

As a USMNT fan and a fan of minor league baseball, I realize there’s a tendency to want to promote both the future and cohesiveness such that there’s a calculus made: we can’t win the World Cup in 2012, so we might as well start a youth movement, but soccer doesn’t work that way and you should know that by now. Bocanegra is clearly our best centerback. Clearly. The only one in the conversation as of now is Onyewu and he’s hurt. Boca is the odds on favorite to start at the World Cup and that’s okay. If someone steps up and takes the job, cool, but he’s performing on a level the other guys can only hope to attain one day.

Well, jay, I really think it’s fair to consider that when 2014 comes around, Bocanegra may be too old at 35. It’s not a certainty but the fact that he is clearly the best US CB now (and he is), doesn’t mean much two years down the road. It’s really a close call agewise don’t you think?

Onyewu’s injuries are starting to become a concern as he is not longer a kid.

So, to start to consider a WC without those two as starters may be a very good idea.

I don’t know Jay. I would say that Boca is performing at a level that at least one other guy has a good chance of surpassing over the course of the next two years. Consider that Boca’s form could be on the decline due to age (that is not a given by any means as some on here believe — lots of center backs perform at their peak level into their mid 30s) and the fact that a few younger guys are just starting to get their shot.

I would say that Boca is not the favorite to start in 2014. I don’t think there is a single player that has better odds, but Boca vs. the field has to go to the field.

Soccernet has a headline that reads “Gook Double Earns Victory.” This is really nasty. The South Korean’s name is Lee Dong-Gook. If you were to refer to him with a single name, it would be Lee (as is present in the story). Some headline writer needs to sacked.

Mig, no, I don’t think the 35 thing holds as much water here. What’s interesting is that right after 2010 World Cup, I was thinking they should kick him to the curb, because 4 years out I had a hard time picturing how he could be our starting centerback. 2.25 years out, it’s much easier to see that as he’s maintained a high level of European play and heck, if anything he’s gotten better on the USMNT team (I certainly didn’t think he stood out positively at the World Cup).

JLM – I guess that’s semantics about my use of odds on favorite. You’re probably right, if I could take the field vs. Boca, I would probably take the field (though maybe that’s a 52/48 sort of deal). But if you were individually ranking everyone’s odds, he’d have the highest.

Well, it’s only 7 minutes in and I’ve seen Ream intercept two passes, get hit with one, and make two good distributions. Positioning has been a bit odd on the last two plays but he’s certainly been busy.

I noticed that Dempsey is playing midfield today. In the most recent Fulham games, he has been listed and has played as a striker. But with Pogrebnyak, Ruiz, and AJ all healthy, Deuce is again a middie.

Whitbread should be ahead of Gonzalez, Cameron, and John at this point. You could make an argument for Cameron who possesses superior athleticism and skills,, but the other two can’t logically rate Zak. Zak is starting in the EPL while John languishes on the bench of a Championship club. Zak is sitting out with a hamstring problem while Omar has torn his ACL. Omar and John have also always had questions re their technical and athletic ability. Our top under 30 CBs would have to be considered Whitbread, Ream, and Cameron at this point.

And its a good thing, too. Fulham is much more dangerous with Ruiz and Dempsey on the flanks, especially since Dempsey likes to cut in from the left. Nw with pog and AJ healthy, we shouldn’t see much more of Dempsey as a forward…. At least for fulham

Dempsey has played one or two games this season as a striker. The guy is a midfielder, and I can’t understand why some Americans are so adamant that he be played out of position for the national team. (Not saying you’re one of them, Mig, just making a general point.) /minirant

Not me! Loving Ream and Miyachi’s performances! Nice play through the middle at the end by Miyachi, and solid for ream. Are they watching his pass and making weater the greeter to discourage his passing?

I think it’s an interesting question, really. He is actualy good in the air, can be play a *bit* of a target role, and does like to be abrasive and pushy. That, combined with his obvious nose for goal, make him a decent candidate as a USMNT striker. I’m not adamant about it by any means but given the Nats woes at striker, it’s at least worth considering.

The way Chelsea had been playing lately, I was hoping Bolton could get at least a point out of this. With Ream committed to bolton, we need them to avoid relegation badly. Too bad Stu isn’t healthy enough to help yet.

The team just doesn’t seem to work with him well. I really feel for him too because he works so hard, makes good runs, and it just doesn’t seem to gel.

Drogba today danced his way around the box, made good turns, very good passes, and was so much more integrated than Torres has been. It’s frustrating because Torres has every bit as much talent (more in some phases) than DD but it just doesn’t work here.

Agree Mig. I think Dempsey has qualities that make him a viable candidate for USMNT striker (not saying he should be penciled in permanently or that’s his best role). At least this season, many of his EPL goals are the result of smartly timing his runs in the box, positioning and being aggressive in outplaying his markers. Until USMNT strikers develop/consistently demonstrate higher caliber play for our 4-3-3, don’t see why we wouldn’t consider Deuce for the striker role.

Watching Nuremberg vs W. Bremen on ESPN360. Looks like Timmy Chandler is playing right mid, pushed up really high at times almost as a forward. There is no commentary on this match, it’s strange watching it this way. I would actually prefer to hear the German commentary instead of nothing.

“the fact that he is clearly the best US CB now (and he is), doesn’t mean much two years down the road. It’s really a close call agewise don’t you think?”

That argument applies both ways to everyone currently in the running for the centerback positions.

Just becuase you are younger, it does not mean you are going to get better. It’s simply too early to be so definitive about who will man those slots in 2014.

It is not uncommon to find good World Cup teams with 30-35 year old players, especially in the centrback positions. Experience counts for a lot in such tournaments. Typically you find a mobile center back paired with a stationary, more physical type. Pique and Puyol come to mind.

In that sense the Gooch/Boca would be more classic if either one were more mobile than they are.

It may be that by the time 2014 rolls around one of the younger, more mobile Under 23 types may have had a break out year somewhere and may force their way onto the team.

The centerback situation is long way from being settled as far as 2014 goes.

We are still two years out. A lot can happen in two years. Ike Opara is still an unknown commodity based on his injuries his rookie year, and Boss largely wasted a year looking for a good club situation.

We are also leaving Danny Williams out of the discussion.

Ream, Gonzo, and John have a long way to go before they get in Gooch or Boca’s league, but they are on the right track. Hopefully one of them figures it out.

After a wild finish, Nurnberg held on for the win, meaning, with Hoffenheim’s win, two big victories today for teams with USMNT players. The wins put both Hoffenheim and Nurnberg within sniffing distance of Europa League slots. I think Hoffenheim, with the new coach, has a chance to pull it off–would love to see Williams and Johnson in Europa competition. Nurnberg would probably need a miracle to make it. I keep thinking how great it would be to see Gonzales on Nurnberg’s backline.

Can’t help but add my two cents here in what has been a great discussion. Center back (and center mid) are two positions after goalie that truly benefits from age and experience. As long as both stay healthy I see Gooch and Bocangra as out CB pairing with possibly Ream, Goodson and possibly Parkhurst, Cameron, and Gonzales fighting to fill out he depth chart. It’s also why I think that Jermaine Jones will be around in 2014, but that’s another post.

While talent, pace and individual skill are a must-have, the ability to read the international game, keep your head, hold the respect of your teammates, be a mentor off the field and an organizing force on it all come with time. I think that Bocanegra, while not the flashiest player in the team, is an undisputed leader. Experienced, effective, talented, smart, and classy and clutch. That’s a tall order to fill and while I think there are several players who have the potential to grow into the position, no one comes close right now in terms of demonstrating it consistently on the international level (that’s not a knock on MLS). Same goes for Gooch, who, when healthy, is simply an undisputed starter (and is still improving his game BTW). Again, there are other players who on paper have the potential to be this good, and that’s great. I cannot wait to see how they rise, but at the moment we’re just not there and until we are it’s premature to talk about alternate lineups without it simply being conjecture. The only other player that has demonstrated that he comes close is Goodson.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Dempsey himself says that he prefers playing as a second striker more than being out wide?

some other thoughts:

In a 4-3-3, isn’t the idea of playing “out wide” kid of moot since there is so much freedom to roam? Plus given that his (admittedly incredible) workrate usually favors offense rather than defense, it stands to reason that the further up the field you put him the more of a return you’ll get for his effort (this isn’t a criticism of his style, I believe very few players can be all things and while he doesn’t an admirable job tracking back it’s not really one of his strong points).

With all that in mind I’m not so sure that playing him forward and central is necessarily putting him “out of position” but rather capitalizing on his strengths.

Hard to understand how the AR missed the call on what should have been Milan’s second goal. He’s in perfect position to see it, and it’s not even close. The ball was WAY over the line. If he was paying any attention, he had to have seen a lot of daylight between the ball and the post. This isn;t just a case for goal-line tech, it’s an argument for replacing the ARs with computers.

Looks like Mixx went the full 90 in a 2-0 win for Gent. Good to see him incorporated so quickly. It would be a good move if he impresses and it becomes a full transfer. He’d likely get some Europa League action next week.

I thought Ream played well. Distribution and the way he took the space was very good. Even his defending was good. I may have my my blinders on but it didn’t look like any of the goals were his fault. Am I off base here?